Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich on Wednesday announced the signing of the Senegalese football star.
After completing his medicals, the 30-year-old forward, who arrived the day before in Munich with some of his relatives including his agent, has signed a three-year contract. After six seasons at Liverpool, the African champion is joining the best club in the German championship. The fee is said to be around 32 million euros plus over 5 million in add-ons.
“We are delighted to have signed Sadio Mané for Bayern Munich. Thanks to his outstanding performances and great success at the highest international level, he has been a very rare player in the world for many years,” said Oliver Kahn, former goalkeeper, legend and current general manager of the Bavarian club.
With Liverpool, the Senegalese winger scored 120 goals in 269 games. He won the Champions League in 2019, the Premier League in 2020 and was well on his way to being a serious contender for the Ballon d’Or. His chances were dented by the Reds’ defeat in the last Champions League final to Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, the favourite for the individual award given to the best player of the year in Europe. Since its creation, Georges Weah, former player of Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, and current president of Liberia, is the only African footballer who has won it.
The Senegalese had a dream of succeeding him after helping his country win the first African Cup of Nations in its history, in 2022 in Cameroon, and qualify for the next World Cup in Qatar. But Sadio Mané has not said his last word, and by joining Bayern Munich, he may be spared the rivalry he experienced with Egypt’s Mohamed Salah at Livepool.
The Senegalese was long overdue for a move away from the English club, which they felt had never treated Mané properly. In the meantime, the favourite for the African Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded in July in Morocco, will double his salary. It’s a great achievement to be able to play in a club like Bayern,” he said.
It is a great sporting and financial consecration for the native of Bambali (Casamance, south), a footballer who inspires many people for his generosity and humility. Before signing his new contract, he returned to his village where it all began, playing in the rain on a muddy field with his friends.
Promising to build a stadium soon, he took advantage of his holidays to sign many partnerships (petrol station, telephone network…) transforming Bambali entirely. This village, which Sadio Mané brought out of its rut, has had its own hospital and high school for several years now, donated by the Senegalese international.
ODL/cgd/lb/abj/APA